“The standards are positive for local government because it gives us some ability to have input into such things as lot coverage and adjacency to parks and schools,” Steppuhn adds.

The ALC bylaw standards suggest a maximum 35 per cent lot coverage with a 150-metre setback from parks and schools and a building no higher than 15 metres.

Medical marijuana production facilities will need a 30 metre buffer from residential areas that are not within the agricultural land reserve and must keep the same distance away from watercourses.

Steppuhn says the city’s bylaw cannot exceed those standards although they are free to set a lower standard in some cases.

While the city has lost some control over where the facilities are located, Steppuhn says the security standards demanded by Health Canada means people living near a production facilty have little to worry about.

“The overall permitting and licensing is done through Health Canada and it’s a very rigourous process,” she says.

The city’s industrial zoning bylaw already allows medical marijuana production although Steppuhn says no one has asked yet to set up shop.

“We’ve had enquiries and people coming to us saying they are in the process but nobody has been approved yet,” she adds.

To contact the reporter for this story, email John McDonald at jmcdonald@infonews.ca or call 250-808-0143. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

OPINION The global food system is amazing. We have created a process that can put enormous diversity of food onto any plate in our province, assuming the plate will be sliding in front of someone who can afford to pay